• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.683-687
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• 2013

Evacuation disorder(ED) is frequently observed in the elderly people. In this study, we investigated the tongue color properties in the elderly. 327 subjects were participated in this study and classified into normal group (n=95) and ED group (n=23) by two Korean Oriental Medicine doctors. The tongue images were acquired by using computerized tongue diagnosis system, and its color were linearly corrected base on CIE $L^*a^*b^*$ values of 12 color samples. The tongue region was segmented from acquired image and divided into two regions along the vertical direction. In order to estimate color properties of the tongue, a color histogram was calculated for the root region based on the CIE $L^*$ and $a^*$ values, and differences of color histogram values between normal and ED groups were computed based on the Mann-Whitney U test. As results, pixels corresponding to typical colors of the pale tongue and thin tongue coating were significantly more distributed in ED than those in normal group(p<0.05). The tongue color of the root region in ED was revealed to be different from those in healthy subjects.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.749-761
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• 2002

This study investigated the anthropometric and biochemical indices, and the health and nutritional factors influencing the two indices among 194 middle-aged and elderly subjects (108 middle-aged and 86 elderly) residing in a medium sized city for more than 10 years. In the examination of their dietary habits, 8.3% of the middle-aged subjects and 14.0% of the elderly subjects had two meals a day, and more female subjects had two meals per day. Of the subjects who ate meals at regular times, 75.0% were middle-aged and 79.1% were elderly, and the degree of irregularity of meals was greater for female subjects. The study of the dietary behavior of the subjects indicated that 71.3% and 66.3% of the middle-aged and elderly, respectively responded that the amount of food in each meal was sufficient. The subjects ate alone comprised 19.7% of the middle-aged females and 31.5% of the elderly females. The prevalence of smoking among the subjects was 28.1% for the middle-aged, 18.8% for the elderly male and 7.4% for the elderly females. The percentage of the subjects who drank alcohol was 34.4% of the middle-aged males and 13.2% of the middle-aged females. Slightly less than half of the subjects exercised more than once a week, with the male subjects showing a higher rate than the female subjects. The average body mass indices (BMI) were 24.5 and 24.6 for the middle-aged male and female, respectively, and 22.6 and 24.0 for the elderly male and female, respectively. BMI assessment showed that underweight subjects (BMI ＜ 20) comprised 3.7% of the middle-aged, 14.0% of the elderly, and that 40.7% of the middle-aged and 24.4% of the elderly were overweight (25 ＜ BMI ＜ 30) , and 0.9% of the middle-aged and 1.2% of the elderly were classified as obese (BMI $\geq$ 30) . A waist/hip ratio (WHR) greater than 0.8 was found in 89.5% of the middle-aged females and 90.7% of the elderly females, showing high abdominal fat deposition in the majority of females. The average systolic blood pressure of females was 121.1 $\pm$ 17.1 mmHg for the middle-aged and 129.6 $\pm$ 21.3 mmHg for the elderly subjects. The systolic blood pressures showed a significantly difference between the two age groups. Those defined as anemic subjects based on hemoglobin values comprised 13.0% of the middled-aged group and 16.3% of the elderly group. There was a tendency for higher fasting glucose levels among the elderly subjects. An increase in total plasma cholesterol levels with age was shown. The female subjects had higher cholesterol levels than the males'The study of the correlation between the daily habits and health status showed that the amount of food eaten at each meal, the frequency of eating out, and the use of dietary supplements appeared to influence BMI, WHR, the plasma triglyceride and plasma cholesterol levels; omitting one meal had a positive correlation with the systolic blood pressure and plasma cholesterol. These results suggest that desirable dietary habits and concerns for health are contributing factors for maintaining good health, as indicated by normal blood lipid levels.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.815-827
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• 2015

This study analyzes the characteristics by age and type for middle aged and elderly women foot shapes aged 40-69 years. ANOVA, factor, and cluster analyzed middle aged and elderly women's foot shapes. The results of the study are as follows. First, higher age groups tended to have smaller foot lengths, ball/instep circumferences, circumferences, and ball heights with larger heel height values and higher degrees of gathering of toe 1 and toe 5 toward the feet reference axis. Second, foot lengths were 220 mm-240 mm and the ball circumference's size symbol in high frequency sections were distributed from E to EEEE in the 40s and 60s groups and from D to EEEE in the 50s group. Third, eight factors were extracted through the factor analyses of middle aged and elderly women's foot measurement items. Fourth, a cluster analyses classified the subjects into four types. Type 1 is a normal foot type with medium foot length and small ball circumference and type 2 is a long and flat foot type with a type with large foot length and ball circumference values as well as small ball height values. Type 3 is a thick foot type with a medium foot length, large ball circumference, large ball height and type 4 is a toe deformation foot type with medium foot length, small ball circumference, and a high degree of toe gathering toward the center.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the nutritional status of elderly Korean women and to investigate related factors. Methods: A total of 100 elderly women attending a local elderly welfare center were recruited for study. Evaluation criteria included demographics, clinical status, nutritional status (using a mini-nutritional assessment), food intake, and nutritional bioparameters, including homocysteine, transferrin, prealbumin and lymphocyte levels, and their antioxidant power status. Results: Among the test group, 83% of the subjects were classified as undernourished, and they often had hyperlipidemia and a lower intake of fiber ($p$ <.05, respectively) and vegetables than normal subjects. In a correlation analysis, their nutritional status was associated with abdominal circumference, the Korean Geriatric Depression Scale score and the Enriched Social Support Inventory score. Nutritional bioparameters and antioxidant power were associated with age among undernourished subjects. Old age, the prevalence of hyperlipidemia, and poor social support significantly increased the risk of undernutrition. Poor social support, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and depression significantly increased the risk of nutritional deficiency after controlling for age, educational and economic variables. Conclusion: More strategies to increase social support in the Korean female elderly population may improve their nutritional status.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.495-503
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of cognitive level, nutritional status and depression in elderly according to living situations. Method: The subjects consisted of 173 elderly classifying three groups(living alone, living with spouse, living with children). Data was collected from March to June, 2003 by a structured questionnaire that included general characteristics, MMSE-K, nutritional status and depression scale. The collected data was analyzed by the SPSS program including descriptive statistics, $\chi$$^2$-test, ANCOVA, Scheffe test and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Result: In MMSE-K, the living alone group showed suspicious dementia while the other groups were normal. The living alone group showed a high nutritional risk and all three groups showed depression. In MMSE-K, the nutritional status and depression were statistically significant by the living situation. In each group except living with spouse, MMSE-K indicated a significantly negative correlation to depression and nutritional status, while nutritional status showed a significantly positive correlation to depression. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop supportive programs for decreasing the risk of bad health in the elderly and an individual approach according to their living situation. Especially, more concern and intervention is necessary for the solitary elderly.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.197-200
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• 2006

We analyzed total protein (TP), albumin (AL), aspartic aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), urea nitrogen (UN), creatinine (CRE) and serum protein electrophoretic fractions in sera of rural elderly patients to evaluate the health status in rural elderly patients. We observed that the frequencies of patients showed lower level of total protein, albumin, and both total protein and albumin than them of reference range were 20.3%, 22.8% and 19.0%, respectively. The rates of patients showed higher level of AST, ALT, both of AST and ALT, UN, creatinine and both of UN and creatinine than them of reference range were 33.8%, 40.0%, 30.0%, 17.7%, 15.2% and 7.9%, respectively. Comparison of protein fractions of each patient to reference range showed that 77.2% of patients showed normal in all of patterns. Few of patients showed abnormal pattern in albumin (13.6%), ${\alpha}1-globulin (0.0%),\;{\alpha}_2-g10bulin(1.1%),\;{\beta}-globulin(1.9%)\;and\;{\gamma}-globulin(6.2%)$. These data suggest that many of rural elderly patients may suffer from heart, liver and kidney diseases. The serum protein fractions are not typical criterion to evaluate the disease, but production of proteins in rural elderly patients may be affected by liver disease and kidney disease.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.216-223
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• 2005

This purpose of this study was to investigate the nutrient intake, the health status as determined self-assessment checklist, biochemical indicators of elderly Korean women. We interviewed and 55 female subjects living alone in the Urban aged over 65 years. Information on their dietary intake was collected by 24-hour Recall method. Their health status was determined by a NSI checklist. Biochemical indicators were performed in whole blood and plasma of subjects. Except for protein, Fe, all of the elderly subjects belonged to over moderate nutritional risk. The average daily nutrient intake of the elderly was below the level of the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for Koreans. A relationship between their health risk score and nutrient intake was observed negatively (not significantly). They had a risk of anemia as hemoglobin and hematocrit of subjects were under the normal value. Therefore, the reason that health risk score and health status badly was thought for lower nutrient intake.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.155-162
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• 2012

The population of Korea is ageing as the number of elderly people increases due to improvements in health care and diet. Accordingly, it is expected that interest in how to live actively during the years after retirement and how to communicate effectively will increase the demand for voice improvement methods and technology. However, the criteria to evaluate the voice strength and characteristics of the elderly are lacking. In this study, we analyzed the acoustic characteristics of elderly women living in the community according to residential status and mental health status (e.g. depressive mood). Accordingly, we selected women (n=63) above the age of 65 age who were living in the Seoul metropolitan area and Daegu Gyeongbuk. The selected subjects were divided into two groups: a normal speaker group (n=40) and a speaker group comprised of those suffering from depressive mood (n=23). This study analyzed the voice characteristics of subjects based on collected data through the sustained phonation of the vowel /a/. It was shown that there were differences among MPT, F0, Jitter, Shimmer and NHR depending on location of residence but no difference with regard to depressive mood. Therefore, we must consider location of residence in elderly as the key factor in demonstrating the voice norms of seniors.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.161-167
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• 2021

This study was conducted to identify the relationship between the dual task performance and driving behavior of the elderly driver in order to identify whether the dual task can be utilized as a test to screen the driving ability of the elderly driver. We surveyed general information and driving-related information for 32 normal elderly drivers, and evaluated Y-DuCog(Yonsei-Dual task Cognitive screening) and the K-DBQ (Korean-Driving Behavior Questionnaire). As a result of the study, the performance of the dual task using the pegboard task and the animal name speaking showed a significant correlation with the score of the violation domain of K-DBQ. With this study, it was possible to confirm the possibility as a test for discrimination of driving ability.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1015-1027
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• 2011

The aim of this study is to understand the types of subjective causal perception of Hwa-byung among the Korean elderly men and reveal the characteristics of each type. Q-methodology was used to analyze each individual participant's subjectivity on Hwa-byung. A total of 25 Korean elderly men arranger 31 pre-selected Q-statement cards on a 9-point scale, shaping the cards' pile into a normal distribution. Then, the data from the arranged cards were analyzed using the QUANL PC Program. Data analysis showed that participants perceived four situation to cause Hwa-byung: Lack of sympathetic relationships, Incompetence and misfortune of their own, Weakness due to aging, and Regrets about the past to life. The analysis of the different types will be able to provide material on how to specifically offer psychological support to the Korean elderly men.